Caught this on YouTube:

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Great organist named Markus Wargh who plays a splendid arrangement of that tried and true Sibelian warhorse.

I thought I was going to hate it... but actually I liked it a lot. Interesting to see how much (or actually how little) he took from JS's own piano version.

Andrew B wrote:

I thought I was going to hate it... but actually I liked it a lot. Interesting to see how much (or actually how little) he took from JS's own piano version.

According to the YouTube description, it's his own arrangement. A rather effective one, at that. I, too, thought it was not going to be all that spectacular, but the arrangement is very well done and he plays with much commitment and passion. Bravo!

Wow, this is powerful... really quite imaginative as well, I was wondering how he would manage the "hymn" section, which turned out really successful.

Opening is great, especially when he goes up to the higher manual for the woodwind passage. It sounds like orgam music. But the Allegro sounds like an arrangement. A good one, but an arrangement nonetheless, and I lose my "immersion" in the performance at this point.

Thanks to Tapkaara for digging this one up though, a very interesting clip!

I enjoyed this account enormously, Sibelius's music always seems pretty successful on the Organ, indeed much better than Finlandia on the Piano.--kp

I totally agree with Kurki. And (sorry, WV) but I found the hymn too slow and too static - it is written at the same basic pulse as the Allegro (indeed the piano transcription reinforces this by marking the hymn Sempre allegro). But it's worth a punt for the opening section alone.

Maybe we'll hear this if the organ at Sibelius Hall is included in next year's festival...